Undersea Kingdom

This serial was cranked out even quicker than usual for Republic, in direct response to Universal's instant classic, Flash Gordon, and is, overall, rather sub-par for a Republic production.

Our hero, Crash Corrigan, is an attempt at creating a poor man's Buster Crabbe, and while he is likable, adequate and has the right build and physical abilities to be a serial hero, he does not exude sufficient charisma, charm, virtue or cleverness so as to have us in our seats cheering him on.

The main villain, Unga Khan, is an unsuccessful attempt to create an ersatz Ming the Merciless, looking more brain-damaged than sinister.

And while Crash is adequate, most of the rest of the cast are either bland or sub-par, the exception being guy who played Unga Khan's main henchmen, who was pretty good. There is a just awful kid, Billy, the son of a geriatric scientist, who you keep hoping will get killed off, but no, he survives.

And there is a nice-looking female lead who gets almost nothing to do the entire serial, and there are no romantic sparks between her and our hero, until the final chapter.

Speaking of romantic sparks or the lack thereof, it is interesting to note that in the Kingdom of Atlantis, wherein our adventure occurs, there appear to be exactly zero women, until our aforementioned heroine arrives. I mean, in a literal sense, that although this serial has many male actors and extras, there is only 1 female throughout the whole 12 chapters. How this city's population has perpetuated itself these many thousands of years is a mystery not discussed, nor is the means by which the many, many male inhabitants of Atlantis relieved their sexual urges.

This aspect of Atlantean life, plus the many scenes of our hero stripped down to his trunks wrestling other men stripped down to their trunks, not to mention the fact that Corrigan's Atlantean costume greatly resembles that of a Las Vegas showgirl, gives rise to much speculation.

This serial has neither the verisimilitude of the classic Republic serials, nor the delirious phantasmagoria of Flash Gordon. Thus, it is amusing to see a couple chapters, but, and I say this as a fan of the classic serials, I found it tiresome to watch in its entirety.

I should, however, give due praise to the fine miniature work by the Lydecker Brothers, and note that this serial marks the premier of the great Republic "water heater" robots, who would continue to appear in serials for the next 20 years. Thus, fans of Republic should see at least a chapter or two, and fans of serials, B-films, and kitch can also enjoy a couple chapters. But the whole things will probably be more than you need.

Athlete, navy-man, and overall übermensch 'Crash Corrigan' (stuntman Ray Corrigan, who subsequently went by Ray 'Crash' Corrigan in films and TV work), along with intrepid 'girl-reporter' Diana (Lois Wilde), young sidekick Billy (Lee Van Atta), avuncular boffin Professor Norton (C. Montague Shaw), and comic-relief buddies Briny and Salty (Smiley Burnette and Frankie Marvin) travel by rocket-propelled submarine to the lost continent of Atlanta, where they are immediately caught up in a war between the evil despot Unga Khan (Monte Blue, stealing cues from Flash Gordon's faux-Asian arch-enemy Ming the Merciless) and his black-robed henchmen (including Lon Chaney Jr.) and good-guy Sharad (William Farnam) and his white-robed followers (for a 'nice guy' Sharad seems ruthless enough when presiding over blood-sports in the Atlantean coliseum). Everyone's near reverence for Crash gets a bit smarmy after a while (or in Billy's case a bit creepy), especially considering the hero's outfits occasionally border on campy-outrageousness (skimpy fish-scale briefs and a head-piece sporting a prominent fin) but the stuntman and gorilla-imitator turned actor acquits himself pretty well as a cunning, quick-fisted, and resourceful hero (the rest of the cast are functional and nondescript). The Republic serial is very similar to Mascot's popular 'Phantom Empire' 12-parter (1935) starring Gene Autry: both feature a technologically advanced 'lost' kingdom in political ferment, incredible 'scientific gadgetry' including ray-guns, mechanical men, 'flying torpedoes', and viewing machines (that can see anywhere, no camera needed), and both chapterplays conclude apocalyptically which oddly don't seem to bother the heroes, who are now safe on the Earth's surface. As depression-era serials go, 'Underwater Kingdom' is typical, and 'OK'. The storyline is simplistic, there are numerous unacceptable implausibilities (Billy can pilot one of the Unga Khan's flying machines!?), characters seem to inexplicably know the names of things (such as 'vol-planes' 'volkite' robots) when first encountered, and several of the cliff-hanger resolutions are 'cheats' (the 'before' and the 'after' footage don't match). Not surprisingly, production frugality is evident, notably in frequently repeated scenes (when the submarine ascends, bubbles are sucked back into the engines) but some investment and imagination went into the fearsome 'Juggernaut' (I like the sound it made) and the lumbering volkites (goofy but much less ridiculous than the behatted tinmen menacing Gene Autry in the Phantom Empire. More interesting as history than as entertainment but fans of vintage sic-fi should enjoy it in a smug, eye-rolling way (as I did).

I found the entire serial on two DVDs for the bargain-price of $5 a piece. I honestly only got the first six because the guy was, well, undressed except for a cape and a helmet and these really cool boots. Otherwise he looked like he was in his underwear.

I really loved the over the top acting and the, for then, cool special effects. That the producers seemed to enjoy finding the slimmest excuse to put Our Hero into cheek revealing outfits and at one point literally strapping him spread-eagle to a moving "car" smacks of almost unbelievable camp. That this stuff passed muster during The Code is even more amazing.

As to weather the cliffhangers cheat; OK they cheat. But in a way I sort of enjoy the original cliffhanger version. Crash gets blown up, dropped down an elevator shaft, smashed into a wooden door (with the aforementioned "car"), dropped from great heights and others too numerous to mention.

I don't love that his "sidekick" is either a young boy who worships him and that he seems a bit too attached to (witness his reaction when Billy falls down a facing). His other "sidekick" is an enemy he saves, only to have the poor sap pine for Our Hero until he is killed, just to assure Crash's engagement to The Girl.

This movie is definitely a repeat offender. But it is fun nonetheless. Invite your friends over and have a drinking party where everyone takes a belt whenever Crash shows his ass. You'll be plowed before the night is out.

Bad, silly, obvious. But not nearly as crappy as Bad Boys 2.

I give this one a Thumbs Up!

This serial is just howlingly fantastic. Bonkers and almost pornographic in its butch antics. I used to show this in a cinema in the 1970s and the audience would just go berserk. As the credits started they would almost scream the roof off...the title comes on over a shot of a phallic submarine entering a seaweed encrusted cave. Our hero, "Crash" DOES only wear his fish-scale pattern underpants with a cape and big silver boots....and a very groovy helmet with a big fin. There is a lot of leftover BEN HUR and NOAHS ARK props to be seen from silent epics pressed into squeaky service at Republic for their first sci fi serial spectacular and I am sure this was a big fat hit with the kids in its day as it was 50 years later. A exact remake of the 1935 Mascot Pictures serial PHANTOM EMPIRE inherited when Republic absorbed Mascot, This one even has the tin can robots and a big metal Volkswagen they hoon around in. Wait until you see the part when Crash is tied spread eagle on the bonnet and his pubic hair is showing..A real crown pleaser if ever there was!. A must for every collection.

"Undersea Kingdom" is fast-moving and exciting, better than most serials...with the added fun of seeing how the cliffhangers are impossibly resolved. One of my favorite superheroes who's never been filmed is Namor, the Submariner and this serial comes closest to rendering him on film. It's amazing how a very ordinary looking guy (Ray Corrigan) with an admittedly great physique can be transformed into a thrilling superhero just by donning a costume. This is the best example of the transformation by costume...Corrigan doesn't look anywhere near as imposing without that great sort of Aztec-looking helmet, the best flowing cape (far better than Superman's) and those nifty fish-scale briefs that turn transparent when the lighting hits them just right. Fortunately, our hero wears this impressive outfit throughout most of the series, and you will notice how much his presence is diminished just by removing the helmet from time to time. Despite the robots that look like lumbering water heaters and a sardine-can tank that announces its presence with an ambulance siren, this is a classic serial adventure that should surely please most action-hero and serial fans. It's a very ambitious and largely successful product for its times, with the added bonus of little of the tediously long previous chapter replays of later efforts in the genre. Highly recommended!